Volume 34, Number 20 · December 17, 1987
A Côté Capote
By John Richardson
Answered Prayers: The Unfinished Novel
by Truman Capote
Random House, 180 pp., $16.95
The Capote Reader
by Truman Capote
Random House, 768 pp., $25.00
Some twenty years ago Truman Capote and I spent part of the summer in Venice. Although acquaintances rather than friends, we ended up seeing each other every day, thanks to my traveling companion, Virginia Chambers. Virginia was an elderly American widow who had lived in Paris since the Twenties—hard-drinking, card-playing, and worldly, nonetheless passionate, intuitive, and bright. Truman was very fond of her: she was outspoken and, more to the point, a great friend of many of the 'beautiful' people by whom he set such store. He was also captivated by her gutsy wit in the face of almost total blindness—an affliction which she handled as deftly as if it were a game of miniature golf. On her side, Virginia was thrilled to have Truman around. Listening to Answered Prayers in embryo made a welcome change from Library of Congress records for the blind.
Review, 4202 words
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